As I sit down to the computer today the month of May is winding down. The weather is already hot and humidity hangs in the air so thick that it feels that your are wrapped in a warm, wet blanket. The children are out of school and dreaming of all the things that they will do on their 121 day break.

I remember the days of childhood and how special the month of May was. It started with a special holiday, May Day. Here in Indiana May Day isn't celebrated much. There is a parade in a county near here where the labor unions share their message to anyone who will listen (in that county it feels more like a political day than a holiday) and at the local school they have a May Day program with singing songs and the wrapping of the May Pole to celebrate their German heritage. But in my small town in Nebraska we celebrated May day with the delivery of May baskets. We made small baskets using paper cups and pipe cleaners or by rolling construction paper into a cone shape and adding pipe cleaners or ribbon. Next we filled the baskets with a little bit of candy or flowers, depending who would receive it. Then the game began. You would deliver your basket to a neighbor or friend by placing it on their door step, ringing the doorbell and running away. If the person could answer the door quickly enough to catch you before you left their yard they could kiss you. I have no idea who invented the game or why, but we loved to play it. In all honestly I don't recall ever being kissed. I don't think anyone ever tried very hard but it was fun just the same.

Mid-May was the time for the May Crowning at church. All the children of the church dressed up is their Easter best and processed in, they went to the statue of the Blessed Virgin at the front of the church and one of the eighth grade girls would place a crown of flowers on the statue, symbolizing that Mary, the Mother of Jesus was our heavenly mother and the Queen of Heaven. I remember hoping that when I got to eighth grade that I would be chosen to crown Mary. I really can't remember if I did or didn't.

As the month came to a close the schools would close their doors releasing all of us for the summer and we would dream of all the things we would do during the summer, forgetting how much we missed seeing our friends last summer and how bored we got after only a month off.

But I am no longer in Nebraska and today is the 30th of May in Southern Indiana. There were no May Baskets this year only a birthday cake for my husband, who shares May Day with the world as his birthday. My oldest daughter was sworn in as a lawyer in the state of Missouri and her son, my youngest grandson, turned one this month and celebrated with an Elvis birthday party. My oldest grandson, here in Indiana just finished school on Friday and already he is alternating between, "I'm bored." and "I know what we can do." May is Strawberry season here so you can go to the strawberry farms and pick your own strawberries or just buy them from the roadside markets. I remember our first summer in Indiana the girls and I were so impressed with the pick-your-own strawberry farms that we picked enough berries to last 10families two years. Every morning for about a week we would venture over to the farm which was just across the highway from our home and pick berries for about an hour.

Of course anyone in Indiana knows that Memorial Day weekend is the Indy 500. I've heard people in my extended family say, "Oh, I wouldn't be interested in that, I'm not in to car races." but the Indy 500 is not just a car race. It is the largest sporting event in the WORLD. Around half a million people attend the race and the festivities and preliminaries go on for almost a month. There are concerts, I know ZZTop appeared this year and special activities all around Indy. My girls were never race fans but ever since they were college age they have found the 500 to be an awesome weekend and one they look forward to. They meet a group of friends form across the state and nearby states and camp out for the weekend and watch the festivities and the race. For my youngest, who lives in Indianapolis, it is a week long event. I will admit that I have never seen the 500 in person but I am the only one in my family who hasn't attended. I hope that I will be able to in the next year or two. I have been to the Brickyard (the track where it takes place and the Indy 500 Museum that is located in the brickyard. I don't know if you can visualize it but the race track is a 2.5mile lap and I must admit even though I had no interest in car racing at the time, I couldn't help but be impressed. It really is something to see. And when you see the cares going over 200mph it really does take your breath away. I watched as they did time trials and was absolutely mesmerized.

So as May comes to an end, I will take a quick look back at what the month held and prepare to start the new month with it's sweltering heat, the farmer's markets, the fresh produce from my garden, and fresh salsa from my kitchen. I look forward to swimming at the lake and cooking out in the evenings. And of course I will continue my battle the rabbits, because once again there was yet another new litter born in the yard nextdoor.